This invention relates to vehicle body panels and the means by which they are engaged to vehicles. As is generally well known, many vehicles have engine compartment splash panels that may be rigidly mounted to the vehicle in an in-service position between an engine of the vehicle and a nearby wheel of the vehicle. Debris and/or water that is flung toward the engine by the wheel that is nearby the engine is deflected by such an engine compartment splash panel and is, thus, prevented from entering the area immediately surrounding the engine. In order that a person may access the area surrounding the engine from the area surrounding the nearby wheel while performing maintenance, such engine compartment splash panels and the vehicles that they are mounted to are generally constructed in such a manner that the engine compartment splash panel can be moved from its in-service position.
The more quickly and easily such an engine compartment splash panel can be separated from and subsequently remounted to the vehicle in its in-service position, the more quickly vehicle maintenance procedures may be accomplished. Many engine compartment splash panels are mounted to vehicles in an in-service position using fasteners which make it necessary to use tools to mount the engine compartment splash panel to the vehicle or to separate it from the vehicle. Other known constructions of vehicles include clips that serve to partially or fully secure such engine compartment splash panels in their in-service position. In general, the use of clips to secure such engine compartment splash panels to a vehicle enables quicker and easier mounting and dismounting of the engine compartment splash panel as compared to the use of other types of fasteners. Known constructions of vehicles that include clips for retention of such engine compartment splash panels to the vehicle in their in-service position require that an individual successively grasp and manipulate individual clips in order to mount or dismount the engine compartment splash panel. The manipulation of each individual clip in order to execute these processes is often time consuming and difficult.
As a result,xe2x80x94an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle and an engine compartment splash panel that are constructed in such a manner that the engine compartment splash panel may be mounted to and subsequently dismounted from the vehicle in a quick and easy manner as compared to known constructions.
The vehicle of the present invention includes an engine compartment splash panel that may be rigidly mounted to panel-support components of the vehicle in an in-service position in which it is disposed between an engine of the vehicle and a nearby wheel. The construction of the engine compartment splash panel and the vehicle of the present invention is such that the engine compartment splash panel may be moved from its in-service position to enable an individual to access the area surrounding the engine from the area surrounding the nearby wheel. The engine compartment splash panel and the panel-support components of the vehicle include panel-mounting structure. When all of the locating features of the engine compartment splash panel are properly engaged to corresponding locating features of the panel-support components they serve to maintain the mounting of the engine compartment splash panel to the vehicle in its in service position. The locating features of the panel-mounting structure may include any of a number of different types of components including fasteners, clips, tabs, recesses, channels etc. that can be engaged to one another and the engine compartment splash panel and panel-support components in such a manner to maintain the engine compartment splash panel in its in-service position. A large portion of the engine compartment splash panel of the present invention has a substantially rigid construction and the majority of the locating features of the engine compartment splash panel are mounted to or defined by this substantially rigid portion of the engine compartment splash panel. Those locating features that are mounted to or defined by the substantially rigid portion of the engine compartment splash panel, thus, have substantially fixed positions and orientations relative to one another. Additionally, the locating features of the panel-support components that are complimentary to the locating features that are mounted to or defined by the substantially rigid portion of the engine compartment splash panel, have substantially fixed positions and orientations relative to one another. Such a construction of the engine compartment splash panel and the panel-mounting structure facilitates relatively expedient mounting of the engine compartment splash panel to the vehicle in its in-service orientation. During mounting of such an engine compartment splash panel to a vehicle with such a construction of panel-support components, all complimentary locating features of such a construction of panel-mounting structure may be simultaneously aligned to one another. Thus, it can be seen that the above-mentioned object of the present invention as well as other objects not mentioned have been met.